I think that every democratic country should unquestioningly have oversight over all elements of their governments, including the military. Special forces elements of the military are no exception. Due to the nature of the special forces' operations (and those of other government organizations such as CSIS, RCMP, NRC Comms, CSE, etc...), however, the legislative oversight function itself, while necessarily separate from DND, should be conducted in strict accordance with the Government's established security policies, particularly the Canadian
Security of Information Act.
One need only review
Sections 8 through 15 of the SIA to see that any disclosure (including for the purposes of partisan politicking and/or to curry favour with caucuses or selected groups within the electorate) of protected information or sensitive aspects of operations is not only inappropriate, but illegal and can result in prosecution under Federal Law. Much of the information relating to CF special operations forces (JTF 2 and other elements) is designated as "
special operational information" under Section 8 of the act, and for that reason must be accorded the proper protection by all members of the Government (executive, legislative, judicial and operational/functional).
Excerpt from the Canadian Security of Information Act (Sect. 8 - def'n "special operational information" - sub-para b) particular to military action, plans, etc..., military conflict being defined no further within the Act.)
“special operational information” means information that the Government of Canada is taking measures to safeguard that reveals, or from which may be inferred,
(a) the identity of a person, agency, group, body or entity that was or is intended to be, has been approached to be, or has offered or agreed to be, a confidential source of information, intelligence or assistance to the Government of Canada;
(b) the nature or content of plans of the Government of Canada for military operations in respect of a potential, imminent or present armed conflict;
(c) the means that the Government of Canada used, uses or intends to use, or is capable of using, to covertly collect or obtain, or to decipher, assess, analyse, process, handle, report, communicate or otherwise deal with information or intelligence, including any vulnerabilities or limitations of those means;
(d) whether a place, person, agency, group, body or entity was, is or is intended to be the object of a covert investigation, or a covert collection of information or intelligence, by the Government of Canada;
(e) the identity of any person who is, has been or is intended to be covertly engaged in an information- or intelligence-collection activity or program of the Government of Canada that is covert in nature;
(f) the means that the Government of Canada used, uses or intends to use, or is capable of using, to protect or exploit any information or intelligence referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (e), including, but not limited to, encryption and cryptographic systems, and any vulnerabilities or limitations of those means; or
(g) information or intelligence similar in nature to information or intelligence referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (f) that is in relation to, or received from, a foreign entity or terrorist group.
Something that I saw in the recent CBC interview (I believe if was MPs Bachand and Harris, but I can't recall exactly) concerned me though; their comment that they heard more about JTF 2 from American Congressional members than from their own Government. As members of the Standing Committee on Defence, they should be informed of activities from the MND, HOWEVER, they must do so briefed and indoctrinated according to the SIA at the appropriate security level, and such indoctrination would preclude them from commenting openly to the media of the public on the material presented to them. I think this may cause reasonable concern from those affected organizations that understand the need for transparency, but for whom their safety and security depends on appropriate discretion and protection of the information. My second concern is that the MPs appeared to imply that the model of U.S. Congressional members informing their allied counterparts of the classified information of their own forces was appropriate. I'd be very interested to know the official manner in which such disclosure of classified information, dealt with in accordance with the U.S. Official Secrets Act, was presented to members of a foreign government. An example in the reverse would be if members of the Canadian defence and security oversight committee (potential future construct) learned of activities by say, 1st SFOD-D (Delta Force) or NSW DEVGRU ('Seal Team 6'), during a backbrief of JTF 2 activities, and then divulged this information to an American Congressperson...would this be appropriate? Perhaps there is a bilateral classified information sharing agreement between Canada and the U.S. -- I don't know, but it sounds kind of "less-than-fully-controlled", and if it were, would not such an agreement itself remain classified and thus would be something that a member of the Canadian committee should be divulging publically (referral back to concern by some of the overall understanding of appropriate actions regarding public disclosure of classified information)?
Overall, oversight is a critical function within a democratic system. Canada is no exception to this. The oversight agency, however, has the responsibility to treat such information in accordance with Canada's Security of Information Act, which would indicate that details of such matters would not be discussed publically without appropriate declassification of information having been affected.
On the issue of material regarding JTF 2 and any ongoing investigation, two policy bases keep serving members from commenting directly on the details of this issue:
1) CF members (less designated spokespersons) cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, and
2) CF members are prohibited from commenting on issues of capability, organization or activities, planned or current, of JTF 2, any other special operations forces elements of the CF or any other classified CF information.
Regards
G2G
